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Measuring the muck

THE Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has accepted a new method for the standardisation of measuring BOD set by CPCB scientists.

To adapt the method to Indian conditions, the CPCB sponsored a project that involved leading environmental research laboratories like those at National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and Jadavpur University. BOD measurements were simultaneously carried out on 8 effluent samples at 4 different temperatures for 6 consecutive days. The oxygen depletion in the samples was measured every day.

The data, consisting of 8,000 BOD estimations, was then analysed and an optimum combination of time and temperature was arrived at. The scientists have now decided that it is most appropriate to incubate water samples for 3 days at 27 degrees Celsius, to measure BOD. This was counterchecked using 15 samples by 12 laboratories, before the recommendation was passed onto the BIS.

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